Jorhat (Assam) [India], August 13 : Congress MP from Jorhat, Gourav Gogoi, on Wednesday strongly criticised the recent "Vote Chori" (voter theft) incident and labelled it as a "serious attack" on democratic principles.
The MP accused those involved of undermining free and fair elections and vowed that Congress will intensify its fight against such practices.
As part of its protest against voter fraud, Congress has launched a large-scale initiative aimed at preventing such incidents in the future.
Gogoi announced that 28,800 polling booth representatives will be called to various locations across the state, where they will undergo an exclusive training module. The program will focus on preventing voter theft, voter fraud and misrepresentation of voters during elections.
Speaking to ANI, Gogoi stated, "Today, we have announced a two-week-long campaign on Vote Chor, Gaddi Chor, which will begin tomorrow on 14th August with statewide candlelight marches. It will go on to the next phase where between 24th to 30th representatives party agents from all 28,800 Booth would be called to various places and they will be given an exclusive training module so that they can prevent voter theft, voter fraud, misrepresentation of voters and then on the 31st of this month we will have a mega Vote Chor, Gaddi Chor workers meet in Dibrugarh."
Earlier in the day, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge urged citizens to protect their voting rights and raise their voices against alleged electoral malpractices.
Sharing a fictional video on X, he said, "Do not let your right to vote be snatched away. Ask questions, demand answers, this time! Raise your voice against #VoteChori, Free constitutional institutions from the clutches of BJP!"
The Congress leader showed how two people (purportedly from the Bharatiya Janata Party) collude with the Election Commission officers to cast a vote in another's name.
In the video, two people, purportedly from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are seen just coming back from the booth after casting a fake vote, with one of them saying "this is such a good arrangement, victory is assured now."
However, when the real voter comes with his voter ID card, showing him to be the real 50-year-old 'Garib Das' looking to cast his vote, he is told to go back as his vote has already been cast.
Similarly, when the real voter's wife asks about her vote, she is told that the other person has cast her vote. Ultimately, the people are seen going back without exercising their universal adult franchise.
Ultimately, the two people are also seen colluding with the Booth Level Officer (BLO), with the video taking a jibe at the Election Commission of India too, terming it as the 'Election chori aayog.'